Sherrone Moore quick-hitters: A potential 'first-round draft pick' for Michigan, Nebraska game 'regret' and a 'no comment'

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football head coach Sherrone Moore held his weekly press conference Monday morning at the beginning of the team’s first bye week. Here are bullet points with the most notable things he said.

Sherrone Moore quick-hitters

• In a rare move, Moore gave an opening statement instead of going straight to questions. He said he missed Michigan’s players, coaches and staff while he was gone, and that “vibes and energy” are high within the program. He noted that he didn’t want to talk about what he did while he was out for eight days with a suspension, instead wanting to keep the focus on the players. Moore was “wowed” with the connection of his team, watching from afar.

• Graduate safety Rod Moore made his return to action after missing all of last season and the first three games this year with a knee injury that required two different surgeries (ACL, meniscus). Moore played 21 snaps, and Sherrone Moore said that the safety feels “great” coming our of the game. Sherrone said it was “magical” to watch him back out there.

• Michigan has to fix some issues in the secondary, but Moore was proud of the way his young players performed, including freshman cornerback Jayden Sanders. Moore said he’s hardly noticed outside of his open-field tackles, a positive for someone at that position.

• Junior safety Brandyn Hillman “regrets” the taunting penalty that was killer and extended a Cornhuskers’ drive. That has already been addressed, and Moore said that he didn’t yell at the player. He doesn’t want to coach the emotion out of Hillman, but that he wants all of the Wolverines to avoid playing “emotional.”

• Senior Jaishawn Barham has played edge rusher the last two weeks, after spending the majority of his career as an off-ball linebacker. Moore called him a “freak,” and said he’s a “problem for other teams,” adding “I’m glad it’s not our problem.” Moore then made a bold proclamation that Barham has the “chance to be a first-round draft pick if he continues to play that way.”

• Michigan has had 11 dropped passes this season, including 3 or more against Nebraska. Moore said there has to be more “consistency being a hands catcher,” and that receivers can’t let it get to their body. He said the coaches can’t just say “catch the ball!” They have to teach the exact technique of how to.

• The 8:46 drive that lasted 16 plays and 77 yards and went for a field goal was “incredible.” Moore said watching it was equivalent to Christmas morning and the points at the end were like a gift received at the end. He lauded offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey‘s play calling to not only drive down the field but also chew so much time off the clock.

• Michigan is running more outside zone this season, and that hasn’t been a “major staple” of the offense in past seasons. Moore said that’s an example of Lindsey bringing in a different approach and the Wolverines playing to their strengths.

• Moore had “no comment” on what his reaction was to the sequence leading up to Nebraska’s successful Hail Mary at the end of the first half. He said he’ll keep his comments “to himself.” It’s widely believed that Michigan should’ve called a timeout with over 10 seconds remaining so that Nebraska would have to punt.

• Michigan’s goals for the bye week: “Opportunity week, so an opportunity to get better. Reevaluate, look at every position, make sure the best players are playing on the field. Give guys opportunities to play, but they’ve got to go earn it. So, be more fundamental. Attack our fundamentals, attack our technique, attack the ‘how.’

“And keep everybody healthy and get guys back that aren’t healthy. We’re going to do a great job with the plan of how we’re attacking the week, being smart with what we do in practice, so we make sure we get some guys back and get the guys who are playing, get their legs back. That’s going to be a key piece to what we do this week, and then attacking the game plan as we go next week.”

• Moore’s message to the Michigan offensive line when he spent every individual practice period with them leading into the CMU game was to “get back to fundamentals, little things and that nastiness.” He pointed to the large rushing totals against CMU and Nebraska as evidence that there was improvement.

• Michigan junior running back Justice Haynes is the first player in program history to rush for 100-plus yards in each of his first four games. He’s exceeded Moore’s expectations, and that began in the spring. Moore said that Haynes was breaking off long runs in the spring, during fall camp and it’s no surprise he is during the season, too. Moore said there was a point he was confused as to why Haynes would run all the way from the minus-15 yard line to the end zone on a rep during practice, but that the Alabama transfer told him he wants to “practice scoring.”

• Moore wasn’t with the Michigan team last week as it prepared for Nebraska, but he had “a lot of trust in staff and players,” adding that it was “refreshing to see them be what I thought they would.”

• Junior Nathan Efobi (left guard) and sophomore Jake Guarnera (right guard) have been “extremely impressive” filling in for injured players at those positions. Moore said the Wolverines need 10 capable offensive linemen to win every single season and those two have stepped up with men down.

• Moore said Michigan’s defensive linemen are getting “tackled” a lot, but that the Wolverines’ blockers have also gotten away with holding. He’s fine if it’s being called — or not called — consistently on both sides.

• Where Moore believes Michigan is at after a 3-1 start overall and 1-0 beginning to conference play: “In a great place — 1-0 in conference at the end of the first quarter of the season. And the statement was that we’re not going anywhere, that we’re going to keep getting better and better with the young team we have. Really excited to see where they go and how they attack it.

“And just watching the guys coming in here this morning, the 6:45 workout this morning with the young boys, there was so much juice, so much excitement. So, they’re not satisfied, and that’s huge to see.”